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“This is the definitive biography of Chanel. It is also the life of one of the most successful world conquerors who has ever imposed her will on a vast subject population. It is gripping, astute, and elegantly written.”
— Judith Thurman, author of the National Book Award–winning Isak Dinesen: The Life of a Storyteller
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“In this magisterial, affecting portrait, Rhonda K. Garelick traces Chanel’s history as a woman and as a designer and in doing so illuminates the troubling contradictions of twentieth-century Europe. Her book is a masterwork of original research and psychological nuance, remarkable in combining insight into her subject with insight into modernity entire.”
— Andrew Solomon, author of the National Book Award–winning The Noonday Demon
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“Garelick expertly illuminates the forces that created one of the world’s most iconic brands. Mademoiselle is a fascinating account of the grit as well as the glamour behind the rise of Coco Chanebel.”
— Amanda Foreman, New York Times bestselling author of Georgiana
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“Garelick can convincingly, and engagingly, illuminate a succession of parallels between fashion and politics.”
— New York Times Book Review
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“As this new biography by Rhonda Garelick demonstrates amply, Chanel’s life was as fascinating and richly diverse as it was epoch-making. Already being hailed as the definitive life, Mademoiselle conceals its meticulous research in its flowing narrative.”
— Barnes&Noble.com, editorial review
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“Writing an exhaustive biography of Chanel is a challenge comparable to racing a four-horse chariot…This makes the assured confidence with which Garelick tells her story all the more remarkable.”
— New York Review of Books
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“An admiring but evenhanded portrait of Coco Chanel…Though providing no new revelations, Garelick offers a fine psychological portrait of the poor orphaned girl who spent seven years in an abbey, where she learned to sew and feel safety within its reassuring order and cleanliness…Certainly a definitive portrait, especially considering Garelick’s intriguing venture into modern ‘branding.’”
— Kirkus Reviews
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“As Tavia Gilbert leads the listener through Coco Chanel’s countless alliances and conquests, she reveals Coco’s driving ambition and eccentricities…Gilbert elegantly portrays the multitude of Chanel’s wealthy lovers and financial backers, ranging from the Duke of Westminster to a Nazi officer. Gilbert’s smooth pronunciation of French names is melodic but understandable to the American listener, and her consistent pace carries through the author’s complex comparisons of Chanel’s relationships to the politics of her time…[A] vibrant narration.”
— AudioFile
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“A stylish book about style, based on meticulous research and a deep understanding of French culture. Rhonda Garelick tells this extraordinary story with just the right blend of sympathy and judgment, in an utterly readable account.”
— Peter Brooks, author of Reading for the Plot and Henry James Goes to Paris
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“Garelick explores the world of Coco Chanel in intimate—and intricate—detail, revealing the life and times of the woman she astutely describes as ‘understanding how the right labels can govern desire.’ This is a must-have book for followers of fashion and social history devotees alike.”
— Lindy Woodhead, author of War Paint and Shopping, Seduction & Mr. Selfridge